The Swiss National Team secured its spot in the final at this year’s Spengler Cup by winning against Davos 8:3. The hands-down victory only became evident when the home team began to lose strength; Davos was leading 3:2 up until the 37th minute.

The initial situation was crystal clear: While the semi-final was Switzerland’s 3rd game in 5 days, for HC Davos it was the 4th game in 72 hours. Even though the physical per-conditions were very different, the home team delivered several spectacular and hard-fought battles for almost two full periods. In the initial phase, Robert Kousal and Brandon Buck both shot the equalizing goal almost immediately. In the 36th minute, Magnus Nygren sensationally put the Davos team in the lead (36.) in a power play situation.

However, this was to be their last show of strength. 77 seconds later Davos fell behind when Michael Fora and Dominic Schlumpf both knocked the puck in the net for a score of 3:4. Team Suisse relentlessly demonstrated their vigor while keeping the tempo high in the final period. By the 45th minute, Eric Blum, Reto Schäppi and Tanner Richard had increased the lead to 7:3.

Switzerland will face the defending champion Team Canada in the final on Sunday at 12 noon. While the Canadians will seek their 15th Spengler Cup win – equalizing the record held by HC Davos – Switzerland has never moved past the quarter-finals in this traditional tournament.

“We knew what to expect — it’s here in Davos against the home team in the big, premier game,” said Ebbett. “We just kind of weathered the storm in the first period and we really got our legs in the second and got it going, and we took control in the last two periods.”

Gilles Senn stopped 38 shots for Davos (1-1, three points), which must now play a quarter-final game against Finnish side HPK Hameenlinna on Friday.

Canada will next face the winner of a quarter-final between Mountfield HK and Dinamo Riga.

Hockey Canada is using the tournament as a final evaluation before deciding on its Olympic roster in January.

Switzerland is the first team to qualify for the semi-finals at the 91st Spengler Cup in Davos. Without any extra fanfare, they won Thursday afternoon’s game against Hämeenlinna HPK 4-0. Luca Boltshauser gets the shutout in his debut for the Swiss National Team.

After their 6:1 win in their first game against Dynamo Riga, Patrick Fischer’s Team had to fight a lot harder for the 3 points resulting from their 4:0 win against Hämeenlinna in front of 6300 spectators in the sold-out Vaillant Arena. The Finns were the better team during the first 10 minutes of the game. The Swiss goalie, Luca Boltshauser, prevented an early lead through several saves. Tristan Scherwey’s goal in the 14th minute was probably one of the first possible shots-on-goal for the Swiss. The forward (from Bern) was able to successfully complete a quick counterattack. Reto Schäppi increased the lead at the beginning of the second period when he deflected a long shot from Yannick Rathgeb.

The shots-on-goal ratio during the second period was 10-1 for the Swiss Team. Nevertheless, they were unable to consistently dictate the game against this 14th placed team in the Finnish league. Boltshauser was only tested once during this period, this was not only because the Finns regularly missed the net but also because of the self-sacrificing hard work and well-positioned defensemen of the Swiss team. This was especially clear in the box play phases.

Offensively, the Swiss also had some difficulties with the well-structured game of the young Finns under the leadership of Antti Karjalainen. Fischer’s team showed weakness in power play situations. They did not utilize their advantage in several five-on-four situations, even in 41 seconds of five-on-three. Noah Rod and Joël Vermin were able to make the final result clear with shorthand goals in the third period.

The Swiss made a lightning start in their return to the Spengler Cup after 38 years. 90 seconds into the game Eric Blum scored the first goal. Just two minutes later, Captain Raphael Diaz made it 2-0. 13 minutes later Damien Brunner scored for 3- 0 lead. Dynamo Riga is the representative of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)

Did the Swiss play so well or Riga so badly? The definitive answer to this question will come in the next few days. In any case the Swiss played efficiently. For the first three goals, they only needed seven shots on goal. With pace and stick technique the team of Patrick Fischer overwhelmed their opponent, in which almost half of the Latvian national team plays for.

The Latvians earned little opportunities. Mikelis Redlihs had the first noteworthy chance to score, but after three minutes at the score of 0-1 goalie Leonardo Genoni was not worried, and after the first Goal from Rigas to make it 1: 3, it took only 36 seconds until Dominik Schlumpf restored the three goal lead 1-4.

For Switzerland, the match against Dynamo Riga was the ideal start into the Spengler Cup. In November, the Swiss had lost in the Karjala Cup tournament against Canada, the Czech Republic and Russia, and in the last ten international matches, the Swiss never scored more than three goals. The Swiss scored two more goals in the game, Luca Fazzini (5-1) and Lino Martschini (6-1), should give the Swiss additional confidence.

The Swiss play in the Torriani group on Thursday against the Finns club HPK Hämeenlinna, who play against Dynamo Riga on Wednesday afternoon.

University of Notre Dame hockey senior forward and NCAA points leader Jake Evans has been named to Team Canada’s roster for the prestigious Spengler Cup, which will take place from Dec. 26-31, 2017, in Davos, Switzerland.

The Spengler Cup, which is widely considered the oldest invitational hockey tournament in the world, dates back to 1923. This year will mark the 91st edition of the tournament and in addition to Team Canada, the six-team field will include host HC Davos, HPK Hämeenlinna (Finland), Mountfield HK (Czech Republic), Dinamo Riga (KHL) and the Swiss national team.

Evans’ inclusion for Team Canada places the Irish captain on a roster that Canadian officials will use as an evaluation tool for the upcoming XXIII Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea (Feb. 9-25, 2018).

Evans leads the NCAA with 28 points on seven goals and an NCAA-best 21 assists. He has led Notre Dame to 13 consecutive wins to close out the first semester as well as the No. 3 ranking in both national polls.

The Toronto native, who has played 111 consecutive games, also leads the country in faceoffs won (277), even strength points (21) and is tied for the NCAA lead in games with at least three points (5). He was named the Big Ten’s Second Star on Oct. 10 and also earned Third Star honors on Oct. 31.

With a pair of third-period assists against Denver (Oct. 14), Evans became the 52nd player in program history to hit the 100-career points plateau. He now has 120 career points on 35 goals and 85 assists.

Five European teams will challenge the defending champion Canada at this year’s 91st Spengler Cup. The following is an analysis to determine the present form of the participating teams with just 2 weeks remaining before the tournament begins.

The Cup newbie, HPK, has been unable to equal their strong performance from last season in the Finnish league. The team is presently placed 12th in the standings and recently suffered a 3-game losing streak. With 12 points out of the last playoff spot, there is still hope. Perhaps their participation in the Spengler Cup will provide the team with the self-confidence and spirit they need.

The Russian KHL has already completed 40 rounds. Dynamo Riga is still suffering from their miserable season start and continues to be placed last in the standings with no chance to secure a playoff spot. However, their recent game results have been better and better. In the last few weeks, the team from Latvia has had 2 wins against Minsk and Bratislava while only losing against CSKA Moscow 0:1. Riga will certainly give their all to save their season with a Spengler Cup triumph.

Mountfield’s season is completely different. After 32 rounds in the Czech extra-league, Mountfield HK has been able to maintain their second place in the standings, only 3 points behind the leader Pilsen against whom the team won 6:0(!) last Sunday. Their direct playoff qualification is with 20 points ahead of the 7th placed team practically assured. Mountfield will travel to Davos with much confidence and even more ambition.

Team Canada is always a tournament favorite no matter where they play. However, they could not fulfill the expectations – or the pressure they put upon themselves – at the demanding Karjala Cup this past November. With losses against Russia and Sweden as well as a close win against Switzerland 3:2, these results were well below the expectations of the North Americans who are used to success. We are all eager to see the response Team Canada will give at the Spengler Cup. Should you still wager that the Canadians will reach the final, you may just win that bet.

The Swiss National Team is greatly looking forward to their participation in the traditional tournament. Swiss Ice Hockey also wants to secure their future before the Spengler Cup begins. As published in the media, Patrick Fischer is close to signing a 2-year extension to his contract as National Team Head Coach. It is not a surprise that Swiss Ice Hockey wishes to hold on to Fischer. Fischer took over the team almost exactly 2 years ago. After a slow start at the World Championships, the team under Fischer’s leadership made it to the quarter finals in Paris this past Spring. A strong performance at the Spengler Cup in front of a large Swiss audience will set the groundwork to obtaining a top spot at the Olympic Winter Games.

Following last weekend, the host Davos is placed 3rd in the National League standings. With wins against Fribourg and Biel, the team achieved their second 6-point weekend this season. But this excellent ranking is deceptive. Their 10-point lead to the first playoff spot (9th place) is not huge and shows how compact the Swiss top league teams stand. “In this league, anyone can beat anyone – there are no weak opponents”, candidly stated the HCD Captain, Andres Ambühl.

Alexei Chistyakov’s team won three out of four games in Rauma, only losing out in a dead rubber against the host nation on the final day.

The Red Machine made short work of Sweden in its opening game, easing to a 4-1 victory after Valeria Pavlova scored twice in the first six minutes. Pavlova went on to finish with three goals in the tournament, second only to Sweden’s Hanna Olsson in the scoring charts.

Next, Chistyakov’s team recorded a 3-1 success over Germany before a tight battle against Japan was decided by Nina Pirogova’s second-period goal. The Finns, defeated by Sweden earlier in the competition, needed a regulation-time win over Germany to keep the tournament alive going into the final day’s play, but tied 2-2 before claiming a shootout success.

That didn’t stop the host picking itself up and blanking Russia in the final game of the tournament. A shutout from Noora Raty and a lively performance from the Finnish offence secured a 3-0 victory with goals from Michelle Karvinen, Linda Valimaki and Noora Tulus. That gave Finland second place overall, with Sweden one point further back in third. Germany’s shootout win over Japan helped to condemn the Japanese to last place in the group.

Olsson topped the scoring with 6 (4+2) points, ahead of Pavlova. Finland’s Jenni Hiirikoski also picked up four points, while Karvinen got three from just two games.

Olympic preparations will continue in December for Russia and Japan: the two nations are set to play a pair of exhibition matches in the Far East on 24 and 25 December.

Switzerland, inspired by goalie Florence Schelling, enjoyed an impressive victory in a Four Nations tournament in the Czech Republic. The Swiss gave up just one goal in three games, with Schelling repelling 96.43% of the shots she faced as her team showed its strength ahead of February’s action in Korea.

Switzerland began with a 2-0 win over Norway thanks to goals from Alina Muller and Evelina Raselli. Three first period goals set up a 4-0 victory against France in the second game, and it wasn’t until early in the second period of game three that Schelling was finally beaten. Klara Hymlarova scored for the Czechs, but could not prevent a 3-1 loss. Muller finished the event with three goals from three games, Laura Benz had 1+2 and Phoebe Staenz contributed a trio of assists.

The other three nations, none of which will be involved in Korea, proved evenly matched and finished the tournament tied on three points. Norway enjoyed the biggest win, shooting down the Czechs 5-2 with Andrea Dalen contributing 1+2. But it also suffered a 3-1 loss against France, with Emmanuelle Passard scoring twice as the French recovered from losing an early goal.

The home team enjoyed its only victory of the event on the opening day, edging France 2-1. Alena Polenska snapped a 1-1 tie midway through the third period; Hymlarova had an assist on the winning goal.

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